"They are (the Sens) a sponsor and I'm huge fan of the team and I've gotten a lot of grief about it this week in Montreal," he added. "But I made friends with (Montreal Canadiens centre) David Desharnais this week, playing in the Pro Am with him, so we called a truce."

It was certainly a roller-coaster ride for the Edmonton-born Fritsch over the four days at the Open. He shot a bogey-free 64 during Sunday's final round to finish tied for ninth in the tournament with a four-day total of 271, missing a 10-foot putt on the 18th by less than inch. Sinking it would have given Fritsch a piece of the course record.

"I played great today," said Fritsch, who had three birdies and an eagle (12th hole) during his back nine. "Didn't get much out of the front nine but the back nine I made a bunch of putts and had some really good shots coming down the stretch which made me really happy, because 16 and 18 are two of the toughest holes you'll see out here. I just hit great drives and great second shots, so that's all I can ask."

His game improved with every round at Royal Montreal Golf Club, shooting 72-68-67-64. Fritsch picked up a birdie on the 18th hole in the second round to just make the cut, sinking a dramatic 29-footer. From there, his game went north.

"I'm fortunate to be here on the weekend, having barely making the cut," he said. "But I made the most of the weekend. I felt like we were playing with house money just because we felt lucky we were even playing Saturday, Sunday.

"It's nice to play well here, and close to home, too, two hours away from Ottawa," he added. "I don't think I'll ever play a PGA Tour as close to Ottawa as this. So it's really nice to play well."

Fritsch's game has definitely been on the rise the last two seasons, the RBC Canadian Open representing his third top-10 finish on the PGA Tour. He finished tied for 10th at the Farmers Insurance Open in January.

As for the putt on the 18th that he just missed on Sunday, Fritsch insisted that he wasn't thinking of the course record when he lined up his putt, because he knew a bunch of golfers, including Dicky Pride on Sunday, had already tied it.

"That didn't enter my mind," he said, when asked about the putt. "We were kind of confused with the line and we weren't sure what to do so we played it straight. I felt like I hit a good putt. I was hoping it would drop in with as little speed as it had. Unfortunately it didn't. I think I hit a pretty good putt, so that's all you can do."